21 Vegan Freezer-Friendly Meal/Snack Recipes + My Tips for Freezing

July 30, 2014Angela (Oh She Glows)

by Angela (Oh She Glows) on July 30, 2014

I’ve had several requests lately for freezer-friendly meal ideas. It must be that time of year! With our little bambino on the way in a couple months, I’ve been making a list of meals I’m going to try to make in advance to stash away in the freezer. It will be a miracle if I can even get through a third of this list below (considering I have no working oven until late August…minor detail, hah), but I included plenty of options so you have some variety to choose from! The recipes at the top of my “must-make” list are: My Favourite Vegan Chili; Spiced Red Lentil, Tomato, and Kale Soup; Pumpkin Gingerbread Snack Bars; Summer Harvest Tortilla Soup (from OSG cookbook); Crowd-Pleasing Tex Mex Casserole (OSG cookbook); Feel Good Hearty Granola Bars; veggie burgers/balls; Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough ‘Larabars’; and my Indian-Lentil Cauliflower Soup (also from OSG cookbook). That should be a good start!

First a few Q + A’s…

What to freeze in? I switched to glass, BPA-free freezer + oven-safe containers last year, so I always use those for freezing (I use these Pyrex containers). The added bonus is that you can bake thawed casseroles/enchiladas right in the very dish! Yay, for less dishes. I also use Glasslock containers, but those are not oven-safe, fyi. Lastly, I use freezer-safe zip bags for foods like granola bars, granola, and cookies. I always rinse and reuse the bags when I’m done with them to cut down on waste and save money (those things are expensive). Mason jars (for canning/freezing) also work well. Tip: We also use freezer bags for freezing bananas for smoothies. At any given moment you can find about 2 bags stuffed with peeled bananas in the freezer!

How to freeze? As for the method I use to freeze things, it’s pretty basic. I’m a big fan of what I call the wrap + seal technique (totally just made that up), meaning that I wrap the cooled food first (usually in tin foil or other freezer-safe bag) and then place the wrapped food in the glass container and lock/seal the lid. I like that it has two layers of protection from freezer burn. This method works great for single-serving foods like veggie burgers/balls, burritos, or snack bars. If it’s a liquid-based dish like soup, pesto, sauce, casserole, or chili, I will pour it into the dish and then sometimes put a layer of wrap on top of it. Press the foil/wrap down to prevent freezer burn from forming and then secure the lid as usual. It helps to leave an inch of so of space at the top to allow for any expansion. For those who don’t want to use foil or wrap, you can try wrapping with parchment paper and securing with baking twine or something similar.

How long to freeze for? Ah, the million dollar question! I find this depends on the type of food and your freezer. I’m pretty sensitive to the dreaded freezer-burn taste, so I try not to freeze things for longer than a month or two in my regular (fridge) freezer. It’s really just trial and error though. You can get more mileage out of certain dishes and less with others.

For the recipes that don’t make a very large serving, I like to double or triple the recipe whenever possible. I haven’t tried freezing every single one of the recipes below, but I’ve tried a lot of them. Generally speaking, these categories tend to freeze quite well.

I encourage you to share your freezing methods in the comments! I’m certainly not a freezing pro and welcome all your tips. Update – there are now a ton of great freezing tips in the comment section! Be sure to check them out.

Veggie Burgers + Balls

When it comes to veggie burgers and bean balls, I now prefer to cook them first, cool completely, and then use the wrap + seal freezing technique I mentioned above (wrap individually in tin foil and then place them all in a glass container). When ready to eat, thaw on the countertop or in the fridge and reheat on the skillet with some oil or in the oven on a baking sheet. I find cooking the burgers/balls first and then freezing helps the patties stay together better.

Liquids like soup and chili are freezer-friendly superstars! Most will do just fine. After cooking the soup, let it cool completely, and then place in a freezer-friendly glass container leaving a bit of space at the top for any expansion that might occur. Sometimes I add a layer of tin foil on top of the soup to prevent freezer burn.

Sauces and pesto’s tend to freeze nicely too. I only freeze the sauce and rarely ever freeze the sauce mixed into cooked pasta or other noodle (it tends to get soggy for many dishes). I use the same freezing method as written above for soup/chili. You can even freeze sauces/pesto’s in smaller portions (for “two” is a popular one around here!), so you don’t need to thaw the entire batch for just one meal. Try freezing pesto in silicone muffin trays for easy removal. Once they are frozen, you can pop them into a reusable freezer-safe zip bags to save freezer space.

I freeze the Tex Mex Casserole in an extra large oven/freezer-safe glass dish with a layer of tin foil pressed tightly on top of the casserole to prevent freezer burn. Tips: For this specific casserole, I skipped the 15-20 minute oven cooking because I knew I would be cooking it after thawing. I let the skillet mixture cool before adding it into the container. I also waited to add the corn chip garnish until just before baking so they didn’t get soggy. When you are ready to eat it, thaw it completely (this takes well over 24 hours in the fridge – FYI), remove the tin foil, sprinkle on the corn chips, and pop it in the oven at 350F for about 30 minutes. Easy! Serve it with sliced avocado, cashew sour cream, sliced green onion, salsa, etc. As for enchiladas, people have told me they had success freezing the entire lot all at once, thawing, and baking as instructed. I would wait to make + add the cilantro avocado sauce until just before serving since it’s avocado based. For burritos, you can wrap them up individually in tin foil or freezer bags and freeze for quick grab and go meals.

For cookies, I bake them as directed, cool completely, and then freeze in freezer-safe zip bags. Some people also have success freezing the portioned cookie dough on a baking sheet and then popping the frozen dough balls into freezer baggies. Then you can thaw on the counter and bake as usual. I’ve also included a link to my recent granola bar recipe – I tested freezing these and they lasted for over a month in the freezer which I was very happy about! They make a great snack and I love that I can thaw one bar at a time as I need them. Lastly, granola always freezes well. My favourite granola is on page 31 of my cookbook.

This list is by no means inclusive of all the freezer-friendly recipes on the blog over the past 6 years. If I’ve forgotten any good blog recipes that you’ve had freezing success with, be sure to let us know in the comments! The more the merrier.

I LOVE freezer meals! I try to spend one day a month making up a lot of food I can freeze for a while when I’m tight on grocery $$ one week or just don’t have time to cook. Soups & burritos are my two favorite freezer foods!

I love freezing soups too but never thought to freeze burritos? And I totally agree, freezer food is awesome when the budget gets a little tight one week or I’m just exhausted from being up all night with a sick kid or whatever =) This is such a timely post because I think so many of us our thinking about freezing right now….or maybe it’s just that August is here and that means fall will come soon. Oh well, fall provides lots of vegan recipes =)

This is so helpful Angela. I freeze a lot of food, but if i do not use it soon enough I definitely find a lot of freezer burn, I like the idea of double sealing it in. I will use these tips, and SO many wonderful recipes. Right now when I am trying to fuel running 75 miles a week, I need all the nutrition I can get, and meatless meals are a must have to do this. Thanks for sharing!

This is SO helpful Angela, thank you! I have to freeze a lot of my food, and it often ends up with freezer burn if I do not have it soon enough. I like the idea of using a tight seal and then using a freezer bag, think I will give that a try, especially right now as I try to stock up on fruits for the year!

As for the recipes, so many wonderful ideas, I do not know where to start. When I am trying to fuel my body through running 75 miles a week, I need all the nutrition I can get, and these are the perfect resources! Thank you!

I used to have the freezer burn problem. I have learned to be sure there is less air space, this helps prevent freezer burn. The other thing I have learned is to ‘file’ things in my freezer and discipline myself to choose items from the ‘oldest’ to the most recent…and i also do a one week every 6 weeks when I just don’t buy any new food, and use that week to use up reserves of food that needs to be used. It saves me money because I am not wasting as much.

THank you!! I really struggled with food for me after my first baby. My husband really can’t cook. Most friends and family think vegetarian means loaded with cheese ( I don’t do dairy). My parents were good at bringing soups by once a week but I needed more… This go around I’m going to use your guide and freeze a ton of these recipes. I will eat well. :) I’m very excited to have this list.

Angela,
I haven’t actually frozen any cooked meals, ever. We have a lot of frozen bananas and stock in our freezer, but this post is encouraging me to try more stuff. Will give freezing your burgers a try this weekend. Thanks!

Thanks for the list, and the reminder that I need to get on this ASAP as well! My timeline is a little less tight at the moment as I’m not due until Christmas-time, but this should at least kick-start the planning phase. We’re also doing renos to our current house which we’re selling this fall, but we’ll be moving in August… unfortunately, I haven’t had the luxury of freezing meals lately since we’re trying to EMPTY our freezers! Probably for the best though since I’m finding some skeeeeeeeetchy looking items way in the back that are likely no longer safe to eat :P Hopefully you get through most of your list! If not, send of the recipes to nice friends and family for them to cook for you? haha

haha…oh yea, I always find those sketchy items in the back of the freezer (and fridge) when we move. Scary!
Yes, I might have to put my mom on food duty when she’s here visiting after the baby arrives. ;)

Thanks so much for doing this round up of freezer meals. I’m a big fan of freezing meals since it frees up so much of my time in the evenings and makes it more likely that we’re eating healthy (I initially wrote “I’m a big freezer” lol).
Also I’m so excited because my boyfriend bought me your book yesterday! He went to 3 stores before finding it because it was sold out everywhere! It looks so amazing and I can’t wait to try out the recipes.

I know, so sweet! I tried the ‘ultimate nutty granola clusters’ and ‘peanut butter cookie dough bites’ (with almond butter) already, and they turned out great. I posted pictures of the granola today and I ate every single one of those cookie dough balls already haha.

You can also “flash freeze” items. I do this with burgers, meatballs, cabbage rolls and fruit a fair bit. Make your recipe and cook bake ahead of time as needed. Place individual items on parchment lined baking sheet and freeze. Once frozen, you can wrap them individually or just put everything into a group. It makes it easy to take 1 or 2 items out at a time.

LOOOOVVVVEEE your recipes. I think I have “sold” about a dozen people your cook book :)
I have frozen both the cauliflower and butternut squash sauces in large Mason jars. Wokrs beautifully! It would take at least overnight to thaw in fridge; I was impatient so thawed a bit on counter top (until thawed enough for the sauce to slide out of jar),then transferred to saucepan and defrosted the rest of the way covered, on low heat, stirring and breaking up mixture.
So delish.
ilona

I, too, have frozen the cauliflower sauce! It’s actually the only way I have ever eaten it…I don’t think I have every actually eaten it right after it was made.

I have tried to get away from plastic containers and switched to glass containers…but do have a few plastic ones left. I have frozen the sauce in both plastic and glass. I have to admit, I am not paitent enough to let the sauce thaw in the fridge or in the counter…I usually just put it in a sauce pan and let it reheat, it works GREAT!

Hi Angela! I’ve been having trouble freezing things in mason jars…they always crack! I’m wondering how you guys are having success with this. Maybe I’m not letting things cool enough before freezing, or maybe I’m filling them too much and the expansion makes the glass break in the freezer? Any tips?

Hi Miranda, sorry to hear you’ve been having troubles! I think both of the things you mentioned could be factors, but my guess is the major one is the space for expansion. I always try to leave about an inch of space at the top of whatever I’m freezing; that’s usually enough room to prevent a cracked jar. Hope this helps, and that you have better luck next time!

I have mixed your cauliflower sauce and cashew cream together ( to make “ricotta” for lasagna) and froze the finished meal. Both the noodles and cheeze had a great texture when reheated from frozen. When I thawed it first the gf noodles disintegrated into mush. Cheeze held up though.

Thank you Angela – I am probably at 90% vegan now and this article is perfect for me – like a birthday gift – as the rest of my family are not vegan. I love your cook book and your website and really enjoy your baby tab:) Thank You very Much!

I’ve made most of these recipes but haven’t put them in the freezer. Thanks for the freezing tips. No matter what method I have used, I have not been successul. I have had sauces burst open in freezer bags, mason jars explode, and tipperware warp and thus freezer burn sets in. I have the same pyrex containers and haven’t thought to try those. Am I the only one who is unlucky in freezing? Ha ha. P.S. I have shared your website, recipes, and cookbook with just about everyone I know! It’s like a “glow” party when we all start talking about your cookbook. :)

haha I definitely don’t think you are alone! I’ve had some bad attempts in the past too. Maybe you just have a super human strength freezer? ;)
Thanks for your kind words about my cookbook…I’m so happy to hear that you like it enough to share with others!

Just read your comment about freezing and exploding. I have been freezing for years and know that when I had exploding food it was usually because I had filled the containers too full. Try filling only 1/2 or 3/4 full and see what happen. Hope it all works out for you:)

I saw a few people gave you tips about leaving head room in mason jars which is important. Another trick I use is to not screw the lid tight until the food is frozen, then I go through and tighten everything. With freezer bags make sure to buy heavy duty and I find it is better not to leave air space in them. Zip them most of the way closed, stick a straw in the end and suck out the extra air. Similar effect to a vaccum seal. Lay flat in a single layer until frozen and the stack on each other or stand upright. Also, make sure to cool off your soup or stock really well before filling the bags. Heat will weaken the seals of the bags and cause more risk of breakage. Hope that helps!!

Andrea, you may be freezing when the food is too warm. I cool to room temp, then chill in fridge, then transfer to freezer. This keeps temp fluctuations to a minimum and risk of unpredictable expansion is minor. Hot × freezing = disaster. Freezing is all about the water content. Hot water/moisture in food will contract as it cools, then expand on freezing. As it cools, if the inside temp is warmer, the food will freeze inconsistently and expand unpredictably, causing bursting.

Also, food freezes more consistently in smaller or flatter containers. This also relates to volume expansion and moisture. Jen below has good suggestions. Cooling before freezing is essential with large quantities.

Thank you for saying that! Who can say they’ve never been tempted??? (The only question is, how many times have we given in … :-) )

Angela, as always, you know exactly what your readers are looking for. I’m heading back to full-time teaching in the fall, with a toddler now!, and I know I have to make my dinners ahead … because eating ice cream for dinner was fine when it was only me (at least that’s what I told myself!) but is definitely not OK for my baby!! :-) THANK YOU!

Last year before the school year I did a bunch of batch cooking and freezing. I found it very fun and learned lots! I regularly freeze your red lentil and squash curry stew with great success! I have also froze the “Not your average potato soup”, and the mushroom millet soup. I have also assembled multiple batches of your jerk chickpeas recipe in ziploc bags, all ready to be thawed and baked. It is really easy to make 4 batches at once so all the prep work is done! Another thing I did was cook up large batches of beans and froze them in 1 cup portions. It was easy to thaw for a quick protein to add to salads in a pinch. I agree, most soups and stews freeze really well. The only thing I don’t like is larger chunks of sweet potato, they tend to fall apart and can taste watery if the stew isn’t thick enough. Not sure if I am accurately describing what happens but the point is that sweet potato doesn’t freeze well for me, lol. I get around this by making the stew extra thick, or chopping the sweet potato smaller so they eventually become part of the stew’s liquid rather than a chunk of veggie.
Good luck with all your batch cooking before the baby arrives! :D

Thanks this is great. I am in the habit of continually freezing one or two servings of most things I make immediately and then eating them a week or two later for lunch. Keeps me from throwing away leftovers and it makes brown-bagging easy and fast in the morning.

I LOVE being able to pull a meal (or most of one) from the freezer on busy nights. One of my favorite things to do is freeze a bunch of sauces and then add them to different veggies/legumes when it’s time to defrost (I also freeze chickpeas, black beans, etc. in 2-4 c. portions, so great to have on hand!). You can get several different dishes out of the same sauce, so dinners don’t keep too repetitive or boring!

This is a great guide! I freeze meals and meal components quite a bit. It’s especially helpful for those like me who try to eat mostly whole foods and are just cooking for one. I try to always at least have a batch of veggie burgers (I’ve done your Perfect Veggie Burger and it was fantastic!) and a batch of burritos in the freezer at all times. I also freeze about ½ the batch every time I make muffins or a quick bread or something, and often put portions of soups, sauces, and beans in the freezer for later if I make too much.

One thing I’ve found very helpful for making sure I actually use up what I’ve put in the freezer before it gets freezer-burned: I have a sheet of paper on the freezer door where I write down what I put in the freezer, how much (esp for things like veggie burgers it helps me keep track of when I need to make more i write the #s like 1, 2, 3…then cross them off as I use them), and the date I froze it. You can easily take a look at the list rather than snooping around the freezer trying to figure out what you have. And if I’m in need of a meal, I try to go from as far up the list as I can.

That’s a great idea! I use freezer tape to individually date and label each container (except the fast movers). The tape peels right off of tupperware or glass when done and leaves no sticky residue. It’s helpful to add the amount (3 cups, 2 quarts, 1 serving, etc.). Then you always know what’s in the freezer at a glance and if it will be enough/too much for the recipe you’re making.
Just about everything in my freezer and pantry has a strip of freezer tape on it. Helps me keep track of how fresh the baking soda is. ; )

I find mine at the local chain grocery store (never seen it at Whole Foods or the other health food stores). Usually it’s with the canning supplies or on a clip-strip by the storage baggies. You can write on it with anything, even crayon. Kinda looks like masking tape.
Don’t be surprised if you can’t keep the freezer stocked once everyone can immediately tell what’s in there! : )

Oh thanks for the reminder! I’ve had it on my list of recipes to try out. Hopefully I can post a recipe to my baby section by Sept. If that’s too late, I suggest googling for some recipes…I’m sure there are lots out there! :)

It already has the oat base, it just need some brewer’s yeast or nutritional yeast, ground flax, and maybe some more virgin coconut oil add to it. Will see what I can come up with once I have a working oven again.

Yes you can! If you are not opposed to ziploc bags, you can pour a serving or two of a cooled soup directly into them, press air out, seal and lay them flat on a cookie sheet or something until completely frozen. Then you have a nice set of slim flat packages you can stack vertically or horizontally.

My other favorite thing to do with soups is freeze them in ice-cube trays. Once frozen, put them in a big ziploc or any other container, then take out a few as you need them. They thaw way faster than a big block of frozen soup. I’ll throw a few cubes into a glass dish in the morning to take to work, and then I can reheat it quickly for lunch.

Fantastic – thank you SO much! A neighbour just dropped off a bag of apricots, so I see some jam making in my future. I’m so thankful for the chia recipe, I would not be able to pull off making jam the traditional way! Thanks again!!!

Thanks for these tips and the recipes! I tend to make a lot of food and then just try to consume it all in a week or less, which only creates boredom with eating the same meal over and over (logic fail!). I’ll definitely be using your tips :)

Made my freezer list 3 days ago….I am preparing Perfect Veggie Burgers today…(and they are pretty perfect). I have never cooked them before freezing. So I am going to try it out on half of them this time. Lentil Walnut Apple Loaf is coming up next! The one I am not too sure about freezing is the Black Bean and Potato Nacho Bake but I will give it a go……

For those that make a variety of veggie burgers. I put a variety of burgers in one freezer bag and use that bag up first before making up another variety bag. Sometimes I do that with other single serving dishes as well. Makes me use up my food and keeps me from eating all the same things all the time. Works for me perhaps it can work for others as well…..

This is *so* helpful! I’m a new vegan and I’ve made a few of your delicious recipes already, but I’d love to do some precooking & freezing on Sundays so that I can have speedier meals throughout the week. Bookmarking this!

Angela you rock ! It has been a couple of days that i was obsessing about all the things I can freeze but have not much knowledge.
I made a batch of your banana oat bars with dried apricots. It is so awesome that I ate the all one in couple of days. So I made a new one and this time cup it in bars and froze it and limit myself to one per day for mid day snack. Will try some more recipes.

I love freezing freshly bakes cookies, muffins and granola. The freezer keeps them all so fresh. When I made the veggie burgers from your cookbook, I wrapped each of them in plastic wrap and stuck them in a Ziploc freezer bag. This kept them from getting freezer burn. I’ve also had success freezing pasta sauces and soups in plastic or glass containers. Also, in case anyone is wondering about freezing jam, Canadian Tire sells special BPA-free plastic jam containers that are designed to go in the freezer. You could easily use them to freeze soups and sauces, too.

The only problem with this recipe roundup is that I want to make every single dish right this second!! Great tips, Ange, especially the one about putting a layer of wrap over soups and stews – I’d never thought of that! Similar to your silicone baking cup trick, I like to freeze my pesto in ice trays. It seems to pop out really easily and melts into homemade marinara sauce on the stove. Totally pinning some of these! :)

I am going to make some of these soon! Just wanted to add a freezer success…cupcakes freeze beautifully frosted or not. I use a gallon size freezer bag and just slide them in and keep it flat in the freezer. I also always freeze extra cookies after parties to get them out of sight. My worst freezer fails have been with breast milk so be careful! Those really make you want to throw up. So precious.

Angela: I don’t know if you’re looking for a plastic-free way to store breastmilk, but I’ve used the Lansinoh breastmilk bags and have a lot of success. Lay them flat to freeze to save space, then you can line them up by date. In the beginning, freeze small amounts (a couple ounces). Store in the back, not the door. I’ve got a 13-month old and we’re still nursing strong. The Kellymom site is a great one for breastfeeding resources: http://kellymom.com/bf/pumpingmoms/milkstorage/milkstorage/.

Also, when I was pregnant I had several friends tell me that after about 3 weeks, breastfeeding finally “clicked” and they felt like they had a handle on it, but that the initial weeks were a little rough. I had that in mind in the early days, and it helped me power through some latch issues and doubts. Then lo and behold, after about 3-ish weeks, I was all “I got this!” :)

This is awesome! I’ve been looking for vegan foods and meals I can make in advance and freeze. My work schedule has been so busy that planning out meals and making them in advance is something I’m going to start doing.

I’m so excited you put this list together! I’m due Sept. 1st with my second baby so freezing some things ahead of time seems like a smart idea! I’ve been procrastinating though because it’s hard to find ideas for freezer meals that don’t use meat or meat substitutes.

I have, however, been stocking my pantry with pre-made snack bags and things like diy instant oatmeal packets. I’d love to get some of your “Lat Minute Protein Energy Bars” made too, since I love them so (as does my hubby and daughter!). :)

I work for a chain bookstore in Calgary and we fight over who gets to “Staff Pick” your cookbook. We have encouraged sooo many people to pick it up, it’s fun to flip through and bookmark some of my favourite recipes for people!

Hmm interesting yours didn’t freeze well. A couple blog readers said they tried it and it worked great. I guess there is no perfect science to it! How long did yours stay in the freezer for? Wondering if that would make a difference.

This is a great list. And great timing too! I had a friend over yesterday and she saw that I had your book and commented on how she follows your blog. We keep saying we need to meet up and cook together, so this list is going to help us prepare some great meals before school starts again!

Here’s to having a freezer full of yummy food and spending time with a friend! Thanks Angela!

Thank you SO much! My sister turned me onto the idea of freezer meals, but I haven’t found many that don’t include meat. If you can next do a list of slow cooker meals, I’ll be all set! :) Thanks so much – I love your blog!

You can line your dish with parchment and freeze it, then pop it out and put it in a freezer bag with the dish it should be cooked in written on the front. That way you free up your dishes but can still have a bunch of stuff stored away in the freezer!

Yes! I do that (although I usually use foil), with the instructions and dish written on the bag (bonus — if you use dry-erase markers, you can wipe it off and use the bag again). Saves me from having all my dishes tied up in the freezer, and from any potential issues of frozen glass cracking.

You can either plop the food right in the dish still wrapped in the parchment or foil and cook it that way, or peel it off and put the frozen food directly into the dish.

Apparently you can freeze avocado! http://wikihow.com/Freeze-Avocados – I looked it up when I bagged 11 ripe avocados for £1 and was planning to try it and save them… But I ate them all in a week so I can’t vouch for the results. So you could make avocado-based sauces and dips and save them for a less plentiful time of year!

Label! Label! Label! LABEL PEOPLE!!!!!! We all know what that thing is when you put it in the freezer, but when things are frozen they can begin to look similar. There is a fine line in appearance between beany chilli and beany bolognaise, however, if you’ve already cooked the pasta…. Well. Even if your sure you will know, label anyway. Because other people routing in your freezer may not! And while your at it, you can always label the date as well (saves trying to remember!) This is especially important if your household isn’t 100% meat free.

I recently took a course on food safety, and just wanted everyone to be careful with freezing. You shouldn’t let something “cool” out for longer than 2 hours, really. As soon as you think you can package something to put it in the freezer, you should. It cuts down on the chances of something beginning to grow in your food that might become dormant in the freezer then spring to life before/during/after cooking! Freezing is in no way dangerous – just make sure you don’t leave something out for hours and then freeze it!

Okay, I have never made your cauliflower sauce, but have made a couple of different versions of cauliflower sauce, and I am always freezing it. However, I have noticed that it often needs to be re-blended for ideal consistency, as it can get a little grainy. Yours quite possibly may work out fine, but I thought I’d mention it just in case. :)

I have frozen your curried lentil soup and it is delicious! I made a quadruple batch and have the majority of it still in the freezer. My husband LOVES that soup and was really upset when I put it all in the freezer. I just put it in freezer ziploc bags and laid them flat to freeze so that way they stack easily in the freezer.

Great post Angela – with a hungry family, I have tons of stuff in the freezers (we have 3 and I want a 4th!) and always make double/triple batches of things. My only problem is organizing the freezers – it is a constant issue! For burgers, berries and some other things – I will place on cookie sheet on parchment paper, freeze, then place in freezer safe container or bag – this way they do not stick together if I just want to grab one.

A couple weeks ago I made your black bean and butternut squash burrito filling and froze it. I brought it on a week-long camping trip where I was cooking for fourteen adults, and it reheated beautifully, kept the cooler cold while it was defrosting, was delicious in wraps, and on its own (I’m gluten free) with toppings, and was one of the most popular meals of the week. One of the campers said “I can’t believe I like this so much and there’s no meat in it!” To which I said, “Did you think maybe the reason you like it so much is because there’s no meat in it?” He wasn’t willing to admit that, but the meal went over really well!

Great stuff. But I agree with a previous poster about using tin foil and plastic wrap with caution – some plastic wrap can apparently be dodgy when heated and/or in contact with high-fat foods, and as to tin foil see http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=newtip&dbid=8

LOVE your blog and recipes, Angela!!! I read all the comments with interest, as I am a long-time quadruple-batch freezing freak. In large ziplock bags or jars (all shapes and sizes), everything from cubes of fresh lemon juice and basil, mango/figs/dates/chunks of any fruit in season, veggie burgers to whole heads of garlic (which peel more easily when frozen), cookie dough, soups and salad dressings. A few additional suggestions that I didn’t see mentioned (forgive me if I missed them):

1. I use masking tape on the tops of jars for names and dates – tiny writing so there’s space to cross off old and write new contents.

2. I find that veggie burgers, cookie dough, etc. are best formed raw then frozen on silicon mats /parchment paper-lined trays) before being placed in freezer bags. (You can bake frozen burgers in the toaster oven without defrosting them first; cookie dough balls defrost quickly.) Same with anything you want to be able to separate easily after bagged and frozen, like stawberries, banana chunks, roasted garbanzo beans, baked or unbaked marinated tofu, pancakes, granola bars, etc. (I also try to reduce waste by not using plastic wrap and silver foil.) I dry kale and spinach before freezing in bags for later use in smoothies. Always squeeze out as much air as possible, then try sucking the corner of an almost-sealed bag to get out the rest of the air before sealing all the way.

3. I, too, have cracked my fair share of jars! You must not only allow space for expansion but also make sure contents are completely cooled. I often just prop the lid on top in the freezer, then screw it on a few hours/days after contents are frozen.

4. Someone already mentioned freezing ziplog bags flat for easier stacking. You can also squeeze a grid pattern with your fingers (bananas, other fruit, taco meat! Formerly frozen taco meat is great in wraps with cumin-spiced vegan mayo) so frozen pieces are easier to break off. You can put a large bag into a plastic bowl or rectangular/square container, pour in your soup then freeze in the container. Once frozen, lift bag out of bowl for storage. If you don’t want the mess of defrosting in plastic bags (like Angela, I also wash and reuse them), you can run a frozen bag under warm water then peel off the bag inside out/outside in, if that makes sense.

Hi Angela. Thanks for all your great recipes. Just a thought for you, since you mentioned freezing foods for after the baby is born…you may have to monitor what you eat if you nurse your baby. Lentils gave one of my kids horrendous explosive diapers, nuts bothered another, gassy veggies bothered a few. But it only lasts the first few months when they are so new and fragile! Blessings!

I’m also a freezer junkie because we use a lot of left over frozen meals for lunch at work the next day.

I have a tip for the frozen pesto. Don’t use the microwave to heat it up. The oil in the pest heats quickly and fries the nuts/tomato/basil. You end up with over cooked pesto. Instead what I like to do is take the pesto out a little earlier and put the container in a sink with hot water. The hot water will start to defrost the pesto properly and still keep the same consistency it started with. This means you can also use it when spreading on bread etc.

These look amazing! I love a good veggie burger, and these look like the crown jewels of the veggie burger world! I’ve been following your blog for a while, (great cookbook btw), and as polite as possible wanted to get the word out about my new blog (brand-spanking new) lifethriver.blogspot.com. My goal is to help everyday people survive and thrive in the modern world. It will focus more on living life to your fullest, and I am extremely grateful that there are people like you already helping people on their way! Keep up the good work!

Wow! I had no idea that freezing could be this complicated, so many useful tips in your post and the comments below! Like one year ago, I was freezing only fruits and vegetables from the garden that we couldn’t have eat all but then I changed my job and had no time to cook every day (or better to say, more than a few times per week) so I was wondering how to solve this situation. At first I was just cooking for more days but my sons were quite bored of eating the same meal over and over, so now we ended up with the combination of cooking and takeaway restaurants what might sound pretty unhealthy… Fortunately, we have many raw and vegan places in Toronto, plus the best ones use ingredients from local farmers and the food looks and tastes great (for example, like jamiesarner.com/toronto-life/2014/08/best-raw-restaurants/). Well, this in not very cost-effective because to eat healthy, especially in Toronto, is quite expensive… So I think freezing can be the best solution for making the meals not so boring… I just need to develop a good system for it so everyone could find what they’re searching for! :)

Thank you so much for this list! It could not have come at a better time. My parents and mother in law will be staying with us for the Jewish New Year. I work full time so I will need to cook and freeze. I was planning on freezing your Tex Mex Casserole from the cookbook because my husband loves it so much, do you think that will freeze well? I’m a little worried about the rice getting a weird texture.

I have been looking around for some freezer ideas as it is something that my partner and I really want to try and get into the habit of doing! We have his 2-year-old daughter every other weekend and these days can get a bit hectic!

Thank you for the amazing suggestions Angela! I am also in the midst of going through your cookbook that my partner bought for my birthday :) Can’t wait to try out more recipes!

I’ve had great success freezing the favorite veggie burgers, trail mix cookies and almond butter chocolate chip cookies from the cookbook. Yesterday, I froze the tomato sauce with mushrooms and lentil for the first time. We’ll see how that one does. Pesto also freezes beautifully! Freezing soups in smaller containers has made it much easier to de-thaw, especially when I just want a service and don’t want to unfrost the entire batch.
I’m about to be without a kitchen for a few weeks during a kitchen reno, Angela so you’re timing was perfect. Thank you!!

I just made the baked oatmeal for the first time–I’m trying to freeze as many things on this list as I can!–and it smells really good, but I’m afraid it’s not holding together as well as I wanted. Is the recipe designed to make something like a bar (like the way oatmeal congeals if you cook it on the stovetop and then let it cool) or is it supposed to be more … just like something that needs to be eaten in a bowl??

I always make double batches and freeze one. Soups, casseroles, burgers, muffins, sweets. I usually cook extra dry beans and freeze in 1 1/2 cup increments (what most recipes call for) and then I can just pull a bag out and toss it in any recipe. I individually wrap things like muffins or burgers and keep in a large,ziploc bag, a burger takes only 1 minute in microwave. Muffins can be taken out the night before for breakfast or put in a lunchbox and will defrost by lunch. I made black bean burgers today and froze half. Doing this is the way I stay sane through the week caring for 2 grandchildren, plus its economical.

This is SO fantastic! My sister-in-law and I were just discussing a “freezer cooking day” and splitting and trading half to eachother for a bigger variety with less work…and I’m pretty sure you just prepared the menu for us!
Thanks bunches! :)

I have found that vacuum-packing anything I freeze prevents freezer burn for far longer than anything I have ever used. I use something called a Food Saver, but you could more easily and cheaply do what one commenter suggested and suck the air out of the bag best you can. There are devices for that also, though I haven’t tried them. Love all these suggestions. Thank you so much everyone! Best wishes for wonderful times with your new babies, all you who are pregnant or new moms. Time passes so quickly and life changes come all the time. It’s good to feel prepared, as even our best friends and families have such differing ideas about what we should be eating! Make your own and freeze or can it, and you’ll thank yourself!

these are great i wish i this was posted while i was pregnant! it is super easy to pull something out and make a salad after a day of being with baby. enjoy your little one and get used to one handed typing :)

Hi Angela – just bought your cookbook and OMG it is incredible ! Fabulous recipes and wonderful photos of what the dish should look like once completed (always a must ). Will be kept busy this long weekend trying lots of them. Thanks so much…Sue

These are great tips for freezing! I also switched to glass containers 4 years ago, and have run into a few issues along the way that I wanted to share with you.

The biggest issue to note on the Pyrex glass containers is that they lack the amounts of borosilicate glass they once had in the 50’s and 60’s when our parents used them.

World Kitchen bought Pyrex a few years back and decided to change the chemical make up of the glass, which resulted in the glass cracking either in the freezer or in the oven, especially at high temperatures. There are oodles of stories about this issue on the net, which you can research, too, however, now I only use Frigoverre, an Italian glass company that does not skimp on the borosilicate compound used, or other brands that guarantee they use full borosilicate. I buy my Frigoverre on amazon.

I love your website and have been a fan of your recipes for some time!
The freezer ideas are great. I am expecting my 4th baby and so maybe,
just maybe I will prepare food ahead of time (since I do love my husband) :)
I wanted to mention, and you may already be aware…
Don’t let aluminum foil touch the food so it will not absorb. I normally will do and in-between
layer of parchment paper and then foil. Just like you would use aluminum free baking powder, you don’t want the aluminum to absorb because it is toxic. My uncle is a master herbalist and has helped LOTS of people with cancer recover with natural health and no treatment. He shared this with me and so I am passing it on :)

I’m new to freezing foods as I live in a small condo and there’s not too much space. All of you seem like experts in this field. What sort of containers should I use to freeze food items? Are glass containers safe? or plastic is a better choice?

My oh my Angela! I just received my oh she glows cookbook, and have worked through a few recipes that were sooo good. Tonight I decided to make the Tex-Mex casserole to take to my daughters this week. I portioned it off into two casseroles so my husband and I could enjoy one right away. Wow! I don’t think I’ve tried a vegan recipe yet that is so satisfying to meat lovers as well. I used a gluten free mix of quinoa/amaranth/millet that provided a texture of ground meat instead of the rice, but otherwise was faithful to the recipe. It was outstanding, thank you! I think I will make another batch for the freezer soon in preparation for the busy holiday season. I am freezing this unbaked and adding the corn chip topping later, unless you would advise otherwise.

Hi Angela, re-visiting this great post as the second trimester recipe tryouts are here–kwim for stocking the freezer in the third?–and thanks to you I am now slowly building up a stock of Pyrex freezer/oven storage containers.
Here’s a tip: undercook veggies & pasta that are destined for the freezer. I undercook pasta by the al dente time minus 2 minutes since -1 min and it’s still cooked by the time the pasta cools off for the fridge then freezer.

Hi, thanks for posting! Isn’t foil pretty bad in terms of the environment for being produced and difficult to recycle? It has to be mined from ore which is huge in waste and then refined, transported and produced. It also takes over 400 years to break down in land fills and if burnt releases toxic gases. I have been avoiding using it like the plague and reuse plastic wrap instead.

I love your recipes! I’ve made the sweet potato, black bean and red quinoa soup before and it was very good! I am now attempting to meal plan/prep and am having difficulty figuring out how to prepare and store things. For example, for the soup: do you cook the whole recipe and then freeze or would you freeze everything except the quinoa until the day you are eating it? Thank you for all your advice and recipes! :)

Hey- i’m a 17 year old vegan and my meals are mostly pretty quick dash! i love your creativity but could you recommend some of your more basic, simple recipes to get me started? love the look of them all though!

Thank you so much for sharing your healthy recipes. With your stories of health and your inspirational cooking, I feel motivated to get healthy and start trying a new way of looking at food. Thank you, thank you! I’m off to the market!

I would love some more, those balls are great with salads, Buddha bowls, veg and rice or potatoes, curries or a few on a soup, travel with a couple of roti…. Oh yes, I love those!
I love a good pie to cut pieces of and freeze (completely not suttle hint!). A good vegan, gf pastry and plenty of leftover tyoe things and sauce, you know…. But oh they do go well with all the previous.
Me? Lazy, cheap and cheerful. Do the thing and portion it (weight control working so well) and freeze. Siberian (official Irish temperatures yesterday and me post flu jab and feeling rotten) but so happy to go to store brr! And fish out HIS and hers. Some rotis (good and spicy) for me to go with raw salad and hot lime pickle, mmmm! Fruits and sunflower and pumpkin seeds, lecithin granules,(pretty too) Him? Cheese, onion, potato pie, various beany mixture and and sauce, his fruit pie (tsk!) also…. But all home made so not quite as awful as it sounds. I mind him or there is dietary STUFF that makes me shudder!

Thanks so much for this post! I am not vegan, but my beloved vegan next door neighbor fell and broke her leg badly today and is going to be on bed rest for weeks recovering. I wanted to make them a bunch of freezer meals so her husband could easily make things for her husband to cook for her. Not being a vegan, I took to the internet to find something and this was perfect! I’m going to make the veggie burgers, the black bean and butternut squash burrito filling, and at least one of the casseroles. Thanks so much!

Hi Angela
I just wanted to say thank you for all the recipes you share on your website and your Book! Every single one I have made has been amazing!!! I look forward to all your new recipes and books! Any time I have made one of your dishes for friends and family, those are always the recipes that are loved and that are requested and of course shared!

Someone asked about alternatived to foil and plastic to help seal the containers, and it brought to mind a neighbor of mine when I was a little girl. She had a large garden and said she was “getting too old” to can the produce, so would freeze it in her canning jars. She would fill them to within about an inch or so from the top and put the lids on loosely, then freeze them overnight. She would take them back out the next day and pour about a 1/4 in of water over the frozen food, then tighten the lids and put them back in the freezer. I’ve never tried this myself, and only just remembered her doing it.

Just a comment about tomatoes. If you have an abundance from your garden you can rinse them, remove the stem attachment point and freeze them. When ready to use, just rinse and the skin will come off when you do. No blanching needed.

The chana masala from the cookbook freezes like a DREAM. I like to double the recipe and add a bag of frozen green peas. Also, I like to undercook the onions slightly as they will soften upon reheating.

A two step freeze for casseroles will save some room in the freezer. Freeze it first in the dish you plan to bake in, lined with foil. When solid, pop it out and package as preferred, parchment lined foil, zip tops, whatever. When time to cook, unwrap and thaw in the dish.

That was just the article I was looking for!! Thank you so much for sharing this – I actually froze your green warrior smoothie in an ice cube tray to have in the mornings :) Allows me sleep in another few minutes. Cheers!

Hey Alan, I don’t have a microwave so my method is to thaw sightly on the counter (only long enough so that I can get it out of the container), and then I plunk it into a pot on the stovetop to gently simmer until warmed throughout. I hope this helps! I can’t see why a microwave wouldn’t work too though.

I’m currently just entering my second trimester. My goal is to make at least one freezer meal a week. If you have a food saver it extends freezer length by at least 5 times. It does this by absorbing all the oxygen out of the plastic before t seals it for you. So if you have something that should keep for 6 months in freezer regularly… a food saver will keep it for a few years in freezer. If you food save dried foods and store in a cool and dark place it can keep for like 15 years (depending on food) without any nutritional degradation.

I read the black bean butternut squash recipe and I’d like to try making and freezing those, but what would I put inside of them – just the mixture? Not the spinach or the avocado or salsa right? would we have to stuff those things in later after thawing??

Hi Stacy, Yes, I’d say just add the filling mixture and leave off the extra toppings like avocado and salsa when preparing your burritos for freezing. They’d be better added fresh, after thawing & reheating. As for the spinach, feel free to add it with the filling if you’d like.

Hi, I have a vegan friend coming back from.a long trip, I am going to pick her up to the airport and would like to buy her some things to.put in the fridge just for the first day that she is at home…please any suggestion?for the moment I can only think to soy/ almond milk…thankI youu

Hi Veronica, That’s so thoughtful of you! I’m sure she’ll appreciate it. The simplest thing may be to simply ask her about what she usually keeps on hand, if you’re not sure what kind of particular foods she likes (and if she potentially has any food sensitivities). I would hate to suggest things that she isn’t a fan of! But if you’d like it to be a bit of a surprise as well, you could always bake a vegan recipe to bring to the airport with you, like my Glo Bars (they pack easy) for a long trip pick-me-up. :)

My current freezing tip is to chop up onions, green peppers, carrots, celery etc and freeze them in glass or plastic containers. When I made scrambled eggs the green peppers and onions were already chopped and ready to go. These chopped veggies work best when cooking. Thanks for all the ideas on freezing meals. I am working my way up to whole meals.

I love that tip Debby…totally makes sense to keep the “must-cook” veggies all together! I’ll have to try this. Do you know if you can freeze minced garlic? My guess would be no, but I haven’t tried it before.

Hi Angela!
I haven’t tried myself but I know Trader Joe’s has frozen garlic cubes – and Basil cubes too (whether you want to just buy the garlic this way or as inspiration that freezing garlic should work). I know this is a year later than when you wrote this, but hope it might be helpful!
Thanks for all you do!
Sasha

Hi Angela, I have your cookbook and like to make the Crowdpleasing Tex Mex Casserole. But I have been confused by what you mean by chili powder. Do you mean the premixed chili spice mix or do you mean hot peppers? What do you use? Thanks! Melissa

Ah! Thanks Angela. That’s what I thought. I’m originally from South Africa and my mom and I always get into a debate about what recipes mean when they call for chili powder 😂Thanks again for clarifying. Melissa